Twenty-Eleven.

January 1, 2012 in About Me, Life with 1 Comment

Oh, 2011 – you were a year that is going to be very difficult to top.

For me, it was a year for travel;

I started off the year experiencing what it’s like to live in Russia in Winter,

and finished in the deserts of Israel and Jordan in the heat of Summer.

In between, I went to 18 other countries, 10 for the first time. One of those countries doesn’t even officially exist.

I caught up with hundreds of friends all over the world, made many new ones, tried a heap of new things, saw 11 gigs and attended 3 festivals.

Despite the amazing travel that I managed to undertake, the highlight of the year was returning to Australia and making the decision to focus on self-improvement.

It’s already paying off, I am feeling absolutely amazing every morning when I wake up, both physically and particularly mentally.

I might’ve even found a girl.

So, what’s in store next?

Hard to say at this point; probably South and Central America. I am focusing on the vocational side of things for the time-being.

Massive thanks to everyone I shared this year with; you’re the reason it was so amazing.

Come at me, 2012!

Why I Love Iron Maiden… (and why you should, too!)

October 30, 2011 in Music with 11 Comments

When all of your overseas holidays are organised around a band’s touring schedule, people are bound to ask: “Why do you love them so much?”

I get asked at least once a week, so I figured that rather than saying, “Oh, because they are awesome” I would actually try to get to the bottom of my obsession with Iron Maiden; as much to explain it to myself as to explain it to the inquisitor.

I suppose a little bit of background information would be helpful here. Iron Maiden released their first album in 1980. Yes, they are old. Very old. As I write this, Nicko McBrain, their drummer, is in his 59th year.

Anyway, they had a different singer, Paul Di’Anno, back then. He was okay, but not amazing like their mainstay – Bruce Dickinson – but I will go into that in detail later. They released another album after that, before swapping out Paul for Bruce, and then the band immediately ‘went huge’ with the release of The Number of the Beast. After this, there were a number of lineup changes, with Bruce eventually leaving in 1993; but returning in 1999.

Fast-forward to present, where they have just finished a huge tour in support of their fifteenth and most successful album, The Final Frontier – and it’s obvious – this band isn’t a fad.

So, my reasons for loving them so much? Continue Reading…

Opeth – Heritage [In-Depth]

October 2, 2011 in Album Reviews with 1 Comment

As with most progressive rock albums, and indeed every Opeth album, it has taken me some time to digest and review Opeth’s latest offering, Heritage. In fact, I am not entirely sure that I totally understand this off-centre, obscure album. Opeth have an amazing back-catalogue, spanning some ten albums since their debut in 1995. Since that first album, they have progressively become more… well, progressive. Where previously vocalist, guitarist and general ‘leader’ Mikael Åkerfeldt explored both light and shade, clean and heavy, soft and hard, Heritage features zero growls, plenty of acoustic guitar-work, and no death-metal drumming. On top of that, there are some tribal elements thrown in, with some congas and even a flute thrown in for good measure. This is not to say that Heritage isn’t a metal album. Whereas Damnation (2003) was undeniably a soft-rock album, Heritage somehow manages to remain heavy despite the explicit lack of traditional ‘heavy’ elements. Heritage also marks the end of the band’s relationship with Per Wilberg, the pianist – over a ‘lack of passion’.

I spent over a week listening to this album on repeat; on the way to work, at home while cleaning, in front of the computer, and anywhere in between. When I realised that the album just was too meaty to digest in this manner, I did what I do with all such problematic albums, and listened to it through headphones in total silence and darkness. Continue Reading…

Vilnius, a truly un-Soviet city.

June 28, 2011 in Surfing the Sickle, Travel with 0 Comments

This blog follows on from Riga, Latvia.

At 7:00, I grabbed my free “breakfast” which basically involved some orange juice and stealing a number of eggs for the walk. I walked back to the Riga bus station, where I found my 8:30 “Lux Express” bus had been replaced with a “Simple Express” bus, which was appropriately less “Lux”. The ride was relatively uninteresting, as Vilnius is about 250km from the Baltic Sea, however it was very lush and green throughout.

When I got off the bus, an obviously American 50-something lady approached me asking where I was going. I told her that I was staying in a hostel in the centre. Her eyes were darting left and right, as if checking to make sure she didn’t get mugged or raped by some invisible criminal. I calmed her down and offered to walk with her into the centre of town. She was amazed that I would choose not to take a taxi and instead walk for 30 minutes or so. I should have taken a taxi in the end, as for 30 gruelling minutes I had to listen to her carry-on about how unsafe this part of the world is, and informing me of all the scams she’s read about in her Lonely Planet.

When I found my hostel, “Hostelgate“, she asked to come in with me so she could get the receptionist to call her a cab. He explained where the cab would be, and I watched as the cab he described pulled up, tooted, and she ignored it. When I told her her cab was just there, she claimed that it wasn’t as he’d described, and waited for “her cab” to come. In the meantime, I went to a local burger shop as I was starving, and fixed myself a quick meal. When I returned, she was still there. She admitted that it was “probably” her cab, as I’d told her, and so I offered to call her another. Finally, with her off my back, I explored the hostel.

I ended up in the sizeable courtyard, where I met Sarah, an Aussie on a year-long trip. She was pretty cool, so we decided that we’d go and explore some of Vilnius before she had to get a bus out of the country that evening.

The Australian Consulate in Lithuania! Convenient beers downstairs - might consider applying!

First stop, naturally, was the old KGB Headquarters, now a museum.

You wouldn't know now, with the well groomed trees and lawn, but this building was the KGB Headquarters in Lithuania, and the site of thousands of human rights atrocities.

Continue Reading…

(Occasionally) Ridiculous Riga

June 25, 2011 in Surfing the Sickle, Travel with 7 Comments

This post follows on from Tallinn.

Once I boarded the bus in Tallinn, which mind you was VERY modern (featuring free wifi) I alternated between blogging, research and sleep (mostly the latter). The countryside reminded me a lot of the road from Helsinki to Saint Petersburg, which was a fabulous and welcome reminder.

When the bus pulled up in Riga (and after we had driven past almost all of the sights on the way) I realised I had no idea where the hostel was. I got out of the bus, went into the station and withdrew an arbitrary 50 Latvian Lats. Given I only had one day, I hardly expected I would need $100 Aussie dollars – whoops! When I exited the station, I was greeted by this sight:

Like the guy in the foreground, everyone (and I mean at least 50% of people) was carrying flowers in Riga.

I decided to walk away from the market, and the way that I had come on the bus, in the hope that I could find some wifi signal (so I could google the Hostel’s location) and also in the hope that I might strike it lucky with the direction I walked. Continue Reading…

Not-so-Soviet Tallinn

June 25, 2011 in Surfing the Sickle, Travel with 3 Comments

I think it’s important to preface this post by mentioning that I am posting this using the free wifi aboard a long-haul bus from Tallinn to Riga. Why don’t we have this technology in Australia?

Anyway, back to how I got here. Despite the Chilean volcanic ash cloud that has been causing a bit of havoc, the flight from Melbourne to Doha went smoothly. The service from Qatar Airways was excellent, and so was the food. Doha airport is a bit of a mess, but Qatar have organised it well so that you can’t get lost or miss your connecting flight. I only had to wait an hour before my flight to Copenhagen boarded, which was also good. I was sitting next to a Swedish girl who’d just spent a year in Australia.

When we arrived in Copenhagen, I hung around with her as she was chasing up lost luggage, then decided to go through customs and sat outside in the fresh air as I was feeling quite ill. I alternated between bouts of diahhorea and vomiting – and I will blame Qatar for this. After 6 gruelling hours, I hopped on the flight to Riga, Latvia which I slept through from lift-off to touch-down. Another hour and I boarded a Fokker 50 (a little prop plane) and again I slept the entire way (minus a moment where I misheard the broken English asking people to fasten their seat belts because they were experiencing technical difficulties – she actually said turbulence!) to Tallinn, Estonia.

I grabbed my bag (which I was surprised to see made it through 4 flights with two un-related carriers) and went through customs, and was pulled aside. The very Russian man asked me if I had anything to declare – I said “no” – which is why I went through the green door – and he asked me to put my bags through the x-ray machine. They were convinced I had peanuts – I said I didn’t – and they made me open my bag and pull everything out. When he realised it was probably the pack of 180 contact lenses, he thanked me and my passport was handed back to me. It was 1am, and the airport was deserted. I found three steel chairs that looked nice enough, and crashed there – falling asleep around 2. At 4:30 I was woken by the bright sunlight (it’s summer solstice here) and sat around until 9, when the buses started running.

I caught the number 2 into town, and was overcharged nearly 100% for not buying a ticket at the kiosk in the airport (paying 1.60 euros instead of 0.92). The bus took about 30 minutes to arrive in the port, and I walked from there to the gates of the old town.

The old town wall has been standing since the 15th century!

Continue Reading…

Land of Ice and Snow: Moscow Part 1

February 1, 2011 in Russian Winter 2011, Travel with 4 Comments

This trip was a spur-of-the-moment idea, because Iron Maiden announced that the first gig of their tour would be in Moscow. Being that I had fallen in love with Russia 6 months earlier, and that it would be winter in Russia, it was something I just had to do. Drew from Wagga, who you might remember from my Eastern Road Contiki tour last year, was keen to join me, and was staying with me in Melbourne for the week prior to our departure.

We were up at 6:30 – I had only about 3 hours sleep up to that point as I was so excited to experience Russia in their notorious winter. Mum drove us to the airport, where we checked in and were immediately “upgraded” to the upper deck of the Singapore Airlines A380 super-jumbo. Drew and I meandered around the airport for 2 hours, marvelling at the sheer scale of the A380.

Our Singapore Airlines A380 dwarfing the Virgin 737.

As we boarded the upper-deck, we realised what the “upgrade” was for. Instead of three in a row, there were only two seats, and the cabin was much smaller, but with the same amount of attendants. We were immediately handed those super-hot Asian face towels. Continue Reading…

Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier

August 31, 2010 in Album Reviews, Reviews with 8 Comments

It is always difficult for me to review an Iron Maiden album without being biased, so here is my most cynical opinion on their first album in 4 years. Continue Reading…

10,000 Miles from Home, a Retrospective.

August 29, 2010 in 10000 Miles From Home Tour, Contiki Eastern Road, Contiki Russia, Travel with 1 Comment

Now that I am home and have had a chance to let the whole trip sink in, and have been gifted with clarity of hindsight, I can review the trip as a whole.

On paper it was only 75 days, but it was a whole lot more than that. Given I only slept an average of 6 hours a night (and that’s being generous), it was 1350 hours of memories.

Even before I left, I had that “butterflies in my stomach” feeling. From the moment I started planning the trip (when it was just going to be 2 weeks in England) to the epiphany that I should get a taste of Russia, to Mum’s suggestion I do a Contiki Tour, it was exciting. Continue Reading…

Coming Home

August 28, 2010 in 10000 Miles From Home Tour, Travel with 1 Comment

This post follows on from Kiev, Part Two.

I woke from my feral-cocktail-induced coma at 3am, 30 minutes before the alarm was set. After realising where I was and what had happened, I jumped in the shower and hastily packed my bags. I then woke John, and he did the same, before we both headed downstairs. We were out the front for 15 minutes in the fresh morning air, before Boris (our Driver) turned up, right on time.

He seemed very happy to see us, and during our drive (despite John and I falling asleep intermittently) he continued to share many insights into the Ukrainian way of life. Continue Reading…

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